Fariha Bhatti 
Imane “Pokimane” Anys’s popularity in the streaming world is not up for debate, but bidding in Connor “CDawgVA” Colquhoun’s charity auction puts a dollar value on how popular she is. Those numbers aren’t without some controversy, though.
YouTuber and Twitch streamer Connor “CDawgVA” Colquhoun is known to many for his close friendship with VTuber Ironmouse. The VTuber deals with a serious health condition related to her immune system, and connected CDawgVA with the Immune Deficiency Foundation. Last year, he raised $328,000 for people suffering from chronic illness and infections with a charity auction involving numerous content creators. This year’s event is shaping up to be even larger, and not by a small margin.
Ahead of CDawgVA’s next charity auction, which will be held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles on July 19, there have been several online auctions where the final bids will be revealed at the event. One of the prizes up for grabs is a gaming session with Pokimane. The bids for that session rocketed up quickly, but a number of potentially fraudulent bids saw the auction locked up for hours.
Morgpie, Ludwig, FaZe Banks, and many more bid for Pokimane gaming session
The auction for a gaming session with Pokimane attracted numerous prominent content creators and esports figures.
The bid started at a modest amount of $1 on July 15. This was outbid by another fan who offered an innocent $15 to play a game with Pokimane. However, the bidding gained momentum as multiple notable streamers, content creators, and esports competitors started throwing in bids.
FaZe Clan Fortnite player Rani “Ronaldo” Mach, oft-banned streamer Morgan “Morgpie” Stone, and YouTuber Ludwig “Ludwig” Ahgren were all among the bidders. FaZe Clan’s Richard “Banks” Bengston also offered a sizeable donation, but everyone was outbid a fan named “haryvibes,” who locked in $500,000. The bid shocked many and quickly drew skepticism, with even Pokimane herself seeming doubtful of the legitimacy, and ultimately stopped the bidding cold for 12 hours.
What happened to the Pokimane game session charity auction?
The Pokimane gaming session auction was paused for several hours after seemingly fraudulent bids of up to $500,100 were made.
The bids were taken down after roughly 12 hours. Pokimane indicated on Instagram that there was meant to have been a maximum bid, so it’s unclear what happened that allowed bids for hundreds of thousands of dollars to go through. Bidding was reopened after a time, with the bids rocketing up past $200,000 shortly thereafter, only to see those bids get erased once again.
It is uncertain whether these bids are legitimate or whether the bidder has the means to follow through. The website does require a credit card and $100 pre-authorization payment to sign up. If the bids are authentic, Pokimane will likely singlehandedly make this year’s charity auction bigger than the last.
It’s not too surprising that fans are willing to spend loads of cash to play a game with Pokimane, who has 9.3 million followers on Twitch even as she weighs a move to other platforms. However, some fans are still upset that so much money would be spent on something trivial, even with the money going to charity.
The website is currently holding four other charity auctions besides Pokimane’s, including one for a diamond play button and a signed Elden Ring poster by game director Hidetaka Miyazaki, which sits at $15,000 as the latest bid.
